Leo DiCaprio: "I Took a Train Across the Atlantic"
by Warren McLaren, Sydney on 05.20.07
Well, that’s the retort he gave when asked by a journalist if he flew on a gas guzzling jet to arrive at the premier screening of his new Eco-doco, The 11th Hour, in Cannes, France. He later noted that he tries to fly commercial flights as much as possible, and that the snarky remark about railing it ‘over the pond’ was an irritated reaction to the media focus on the supposed inconsistency in the private lives of so called eco-celebrities. "We're all trying the best we can, truly, we really are," he said. "Attacks on Al Gore for example I think are misdirected. Don't shoot the messenger, you know what I'm saying? If you're going to attack somebody on the way they conduct their life, let's talk about the big picture, let's see what big oil companies are doing.” And it is that bigger picture that his movie is apparently focussed on, "Certainly in the United States we are the ones that should set an example for the rest of the world. We are the most powerful democracy on the planet and we're also the largest polluters simultaneously," he said. DiCaprio said, despite the film's tone, he was optimistic about humanity's fate. "I'm happy to be a part of this generation that talks about an issue that affects so many generations after us like global warming does. It's probably the biggest movement in human history, if done right." ::The 11th Hour, via ABC.
I can only agree with DiCaprio's sentiment here. The fondness that some media outlets show for bashing the lifestyle of 'eco-celebs' is at best, a cheap shot. No-one is perfect and no individual can undergo scrutiny without an opportunity for criticism.
The point in my view is, that we shouldn't really talking about these people as individuals, it's their role as a celebrity spokesperson that matters most. Since their words get more column inches than say, mine(!), we are going to hear what they have to say. Until hardcore treehuggers become mainstream media sources, we are going to have to get used to the grey area of celebs talking about the issues and then personally not being 100% green themselves. But we only need the grey to become a little bit greener for them to do more good than a few happy eco-fans living electricity free in a forest.
Green is becoming less niche now and that's a great progression.
I can only agree with DiCaprio's sentiment here. The fondness that some media outlets show for bashing the lifestyle of 'eco-celebs' is at best, a cheap shot. No-one is perfect and no individual can undergo scrutiny without an opportunity for criticism.
The point in my view is, that we shouldn't really talking about these people as individuals, it's their role as a celebrity spokesperson that matters most. Since their words get more column inches than say, mine(!), we are going to hear what they have to say. Until hardcore treehuggers become mainstream media sources, we are going to have to get used to the grey area of celebs talking about the issues and then personally not being 100% green themselves. But we only need the grey to become a little bit greener for them to do more good than a few happy eco-fans living electricity free in a forest.
Green is becoming less niche now and that's a great progression.
If these guys are paying the carbon mitigation for their private jets, that's capitalism, so it's perfectly fine. The right wingers always scream that environmentalism is communism, but when environmentalists come up with a market solution, the right wing starts a populist rant taken straight from Huey Long.
Luckily the American people have a memory longer than five minutes, and a grasp of basic logic, so these anti-Gore rants haven't gotten much traction.
But maybe we should pull the Queen Mary out of mothballs in Long Beach and bring back the most elegant mode of transatlantic travel. Put video cameras on the boat and fill it full of swank celebrities and boom! you have a cable reality show - "The Crossing" whose ad sales will probably double the profit.
If the media reported even 1% of the ecological destruction wreaked by George W. Bush's extreme corporate agenda rather than celebrity gossip we'd see real change.
I don't know about you but that is a damn nice photo of Leo. Something very leadership, shout out to my peeps, suave chic kind of thing going on there. Maybe is it just the leafy cannes logo in the background. But he looks comfortable in is own skin and I think that is where this sentiment of his retort to the reporter is coming from.
I've only seen Leo on the street once (he lives near my work) and he was wrapped in a face-scarf like some Iranian woman. He gets mobbed by girl fans and I can totally understand why he would occasionally want to travel in privacy.
Although Leo's sentiment is correct, sentiment alone will not fix the problems and challenges we face. Everyone (nations, corporations, and individuals) must actively do their part to help.
If spokespeople, celebrities in particular, want to be taken seriously, they need to lead by example. They will be held to a higher standard, and their missteps risk the credibility of the green movement.
Also, it's not fair to criticize big oil but give big media a free pass. That's like letting all the bank robbers out of jail because they're not as bad as the murders.
Everyone should contribute. Everyone should be held equally accountable.
The pretty politicos on the Left Coast and the ugly stars in DC have many more opportunities/options to personally affect the environment, in significant ways, by adjusting their lifestyles than does the average schome. And I don't mean by using their spare change to buy offsets. It seems most prefer to bask in the limelight and talk, talk, talk and not walk the walk.